Dance with Discord
by Icedrift36
Summary: After Discord apologizes to everyone at the Gala, he once again says sorry to his friend Fluttershy. She forgives him and the two share a dance, putting the bickering behind them.


"Hey, it's not a party until somepony spreads magic resistant ooze uncontrollably all over the ballroom," Pinkie Pie exclaimed, looking at her sister, Maud. With that said she hopped up onto the stage, wrapping her hooves around the Smooze in a giant hug. "Come on Smoozinator let's dance!" Pinkie said, dragging the Smooze with her to the dance floor.

Fluttershy watched this with a smile, glad to see that things were normal once again after Discord's little temper tantrum over her having another friend.

After a few minutes, her friends all split away from one another. Each of them had their own things they wanted to do. Fluttershy stayed behind however, drifting down to stand beside the Draconequus. For a while, she, Discord and Tree Hugger all stood together. It was fun to stand to the side and watch the festivities.

"Fluttershy," Tree Hugger began, drawing the yellow mare's attention.

"Yes, Tree Hugger?"

"I'm going to, like, just go for a walk in the garden. My chakras still feel a bit… like, muddled. I really think the fresh air will help to cleanse the bad vibes," the earth pony explained to her.

Beside them, Discord shuffled awkwardly, giving the two friends some space.

"Oh, okay," Fluttershy said. She really couldn't blame Tree Hugger for being a bit off-put still. As mellow as she was, dealing with Discord could be unsettling, and that was when he was in a good mood. "Want me to go with you?" she offered, giving her friend a smile.

"That's okay," Tree Hugger replied. "I think your other friend would like to spend a bit of time with you. I don't know if you've noticed, but I think he's been trying to, like, get your attention or something all night."

The Pegasus looked over to where Discord stood, pretending not to be paying attention but obviously doing some eavesdropping. Fluttershy nodded, looking back to her friend. "I think you may be right," she agreed. "Have a nice walk."

"I'll be back in a bit, Flutters," Tree Hugger promised, giving Fluttershy a hug before trotting away.

Once she had left, Discord started making his way back over.

"Flutters?" he repeated the nickname, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you're going to start acting weird again," Fluttershy sighed. There was a light, almost teasing note to her voice.

The teasing tone caused Discord to break into a chuckle. It seemed so strange to hear Fluttershy take on a joking tone. Normally he was the one cracking the jokes in their odd little friendship. "I suppose I walked into that one," he agreed. "Seriously though," he added, smoothing himself out and clearing his throat as if what he was about to say was highly important, "you two are not good at the nickname thing."

The yellow Pegasus rolled her shoulders in a shrug, turning to watch the rest of the ballroom. She could see Pinkie still dancing with the Smooze. Rarity was chatting with a stallion. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were with Apple Bloom and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders. Across the ballroom Twilight was with Princess Celestia. All in all, things seemed to have turned out not so bad.

Suddenly, Fluttershy felt something tap her shoulder and she jumped a little with surprise, wings unfolding in alarm. When she saw that there was nothing there her wings curled back against her sides.

"Discord, did you…?" she turned to look towards where the Draconequus had been standing a moment before, only to find the spot empty.

Deciding to dismiss the thought, Fluttershy turned to look back out at the dance floor, assuming her friend had wandered off while she was watching the other ponies. However, when she turned to look at the dance floor again, Discord was standing there on all fours. A flower popped into existence in his claw and he held it out to her.

"Now that I've patched things up with that little friend of yours, will you accept an apology?" he asked, his eyes wide and puppy-like.

For a moment, Fluttershy didn't react. Then her lips curved into a warm smile. She accepted the offered flower, tucking it into her mane for safe-keeping. "You're forgiven Discord," she told him.

The Lord of Chaos gave a gleeful shout, using his magic to set off an array of colourful fireworks to express his delight. It made his pony friend giggle, lifting a hoof to cover her mouth. He seemed to only get more excited when he saw her laughing, wagging his tail as the fireworks stopped.

"And you'll dance with me?" he asked, watching her eagerly.

Fluttershy frowned, taking a nervous step back. "Discord, I don't dance," she mumbled shyly.

Now it was his turn to frown at her. "Nonsense my dear, you're always fluttering around and dancing when you're looking after the animals at the cottage. Singing as well, now that I think of it…" His lower lip jutted out in a thoughtful expression and he stroked his beard with his lion paw.

"T- That's different. That's in the comfort of home when there's not ponies staring at me," she argued, trying to hide behind her mane.

"I assure you with me by your side, no pony will be staring at you," he promised, flashing a wide, toothy grin her way.

"Discord, I…"

"Please Fluttershy?" he pleaded, his eyes growing round. When she still seemed reluctant he made a dark rain cloud materialize over himself, dripping large lemonade drops to reflect his sour mood. "I thought you said you had forgiven me. Did you," he gasped, his voice catching in his throat for dramatic effect, "lie to me?"

"N- No, I just-,"

"Then it's settled," he said, making the cloud and mess disappear with a snap of his eagle claw. "You'll dance with me."

Without waiting for a response he grabbed her hooves in his paw and claw, pulling her out onto the dance floor with him. She tried to protest, but he wasn't in a listening sort of mood so it was useless.

Out on the dance floor, other ponies turned to look at the odd pair. Fluttershy was feeling very self-conscious, hardly moving at all. "Discord, I don't think that-,"

He placed a finger on her lips to get her to be quiet. "No thinking," he told her, "just dancing for now. Come on, I know you know how to."

Rather than trying to argue with him, Fluttershy sighed and nodded her head. "Okay." Sometimes with Discord, it was better to just go with the flow rather than trying to rationalize with him. Besides, one dance wasn't going to kill her.

At first the dance was a lot of awkward stumbling due to the height difference. Then, Fluttershy spread her wings and drifted upwards to more or less match Discord's height.

Surprisingly, after that, the dance was rather easy. He didn't do any wild spins as he did when he would dance with someone as a game. Nor did he make her do any lifts. Instead the pair swirled around the ballroom in harmony with one another. There was no craziness. Fluttershy was surprised at how gentle he was with her. Every once in a while, he would dip her or do a lift himself, but none of those things were extreme.

"Thank you Fluttershy," he told her, his tone uncharacteristically sincere and serious.

"For what?" she asked.

"For forgiving me," he told her, "and for dancing with me."

Fluttershy smiled, giving Discord a hug. "That's what friends are for."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Wrote this as an alternate ending to the episode Make New Friends but Keep Discord. I really liked the new episode. I was happy that Fluttershy didn't just give Discord a free pass with his mistakes and she made him face them and apologize. The only thing that bothered me was that it didn't give us much of a moment for the two to sort things over between each other. I understand making Discord apologize to everyone else first, but I felt like there should have been a moment for the two of them afterward. I dunno. Anyway, enjoy the fluff.


End file.
